Somewhere the current price growth did not reach. The prices of graphics cards, which are an inherent part of every computer, fall even in times of great price increases. On average, they fell by tens of percent during the last months, which corresponds to a decrease of tens of thousands of crowns.
–
The average price of graphics cards peaked last November, when, according to data from shopping guide Heureka.cz, they cost CZK 21,246. “It has been decreasing since this period and is currently about a third lower than in the period before Christmas,” describes the situation Michal Buzek, head of analysts at the shopping advisor Heureka.cz.
–
Half price can mean a reduction of ten, for some models up to thirty thousand crowns. “Currently, the average price in this category is 14,000 crowns, but before Christmas, purchases of cards for 60,000 crowns or more were not an exception,” adds Buzek.
–
Graphics card prices fell by 30 to 50 percent year-over-year, with the biggest price drops occurring during July. Last month, their average price reached CZK 14,042, which is close to the value from last May.
–
“We can assume that due to this time period, the main reason for the decline is the war in Ukraine. Furthermore, it is already quite individual. Some sellers kept the prices the same or lowered them even more, and now they are slowly increasing the prices again,” says Petra Dvořáková, PR specialist of the shopping advisor and comparator Zboží.cz.
–
According to data from Zboží.cz, the prices of graphics cards are now at an annual low. In August 2022, the average card prices will be around 13,000 crowns. Since reaching the February maximum of 15,364 crowns, their price has been constantly falling and has now reached an average value of 13,757 CZK.
–
At the same time, there was a shortage of graphics cards just a few months ago. The global unavailability of chips was to blame, but also the high demand for entertainment during the pandemic, when people spent time at home playing computer games, for example. Card purchases due to cryptocurrency mining also had a big impact.
–
The lower prices of graphics cards were driven by the saturation of the market, including the bazaar one. At the same time, manufacturers were also interested in increasing sales.
–
Nvidia, one of the manufacturers of graphics cards, predicted last year that the market for graphics cards would stabilize and that in the second half of 2022 the cards would be commonly available again.
–
From difficult availability, the offer of graphics cards has moved to a phase where there is a surplus of goods on the market. “Lower graphics card prices were driven by the saturation of the market, including the bazaar one. At the same time, manufacturers were also interested in increasing sales,” explains Michaela Balarinová, spokesperson for the CZC online electronics store.
–
Companies mainly need to get rid of the scariest types of cards. “Manufacturers need to sell out of stocks of current models, because a new generation of graphics cards is due to arrive in the last quarter of this year,” says Daniela Chovancová, spokesperson for the Alza.cz e-shop.
–
For example, Nvidia is planning to launch a new line of graphics cards, so they are trying to sell off existing stock. However, at the turn of 2018 and 2019, AMD and Nvidia failed to sell out cards, which was associated with a decline in cryptocurrency mining. At the time, Nvidia’s graphics card sales fell in half.
–
The decrease in mining of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has an effect on the price of graphics cards even now. “The current lack of interest among miners due to the large drop in cryptocurrency prices also contributed to the price drop,” confirms Chovancová.
–
However, domestic graphics card vendors say that they have a reasonable amount of cards in stock so far, and therefore do not need to empty them quickly. However, according to Buzek, e-shops are trying to free up stock. “The time for the release of new graphics is approaching. Those interested in new graphics are already waiting for new, more powerful models, which they will buy for similar or only slightly higher prices,” adds Michal Buzek from Heureka.
–
Since graphics cards are part of electronics, according to the sellers, discounts are also included in the final price of other products. “The current prices of graphics cards probably have an effect only on the price of computer assemblies, where graphics cards make up a large part of the total price,” says Chovancová.
—
